Not the Same Old Song - Part 65

 Frère Jacques

Frère Jacques is a traditional French nursery rhyme that you might have learned in grade school.

Weighing In - Part 74

Ken Curtis

This weigh-in happened at a New England Fights (NEF) MMA event called Promised Land on June 17, 2016.  After he weighed in, someone called over to the officials that they might want to move the towel a bit to block the camera.

Poem of the Day - Part 74

 Percival Lee

Today's poem is another bawdy limerick, this one by Spike Milligan.

A man called Percival Lee

Got up one night for a pee.

When he got to the loo

It was quarter to two,

And when he got back it was three.

Artists - Part 77

Robert C. Rore

Robert C. Rore is a German artist born in 1954.  In college, he started studying Chemistry but switched to Art History.  He had his first single exhibition in 1982 and has worked as a freelance artist in Munich ever since.

His work ranges from depictions of fruit and vegetables to city views to nude studies, but his favorite subject is the naked male.  Above, Rore sketches a nude model.

Engle beim Kaffee (Angel with Coffee), a 2016 watercolor.

Stehender junger Mann (Young Man Standing), 2016.

Junger Mann mit Teddybär (Young Man with Teddybear), 2018.

Die Heimkehr des Odysseus (The Return of Odysseus), 2020.

Im Bad (In the Bath), 2023.

Limonero, 2024.

Mann in der Umkleide mit Spiegel (Man in the Dressing Room with Mirror), 2025.

Die Glasperlenspieler (The Marble Players).

We end with a painting that illustrates Rore's delight in showing multiple views of the naked male, Narziss in Spiegelkabinett (Narcissus in the Hall of Mirrors).

Beach Bums - Part 71

 Nudist Jeff

Jeff Cocking is one of my favorite unashamed males.  He lives in the town of Denmark on the south shore of Western Australia, and he is a fierce advocate of nudism.  His Twitter account under the name Nudist Jeff @Nude_Hiker contains hundreds of nude photos of himself, of which these photos are a small sample.

Western Australia has many nude beaches, official and unofficial.  Here are some that Jeff has posted photos of himself on.  Above, Jeff (left) with friend Koby on Mazzoletti Beach near Denmark.

Here's Jeff (left) with follower Mike on Mazzoletti Beach.

Jeff at Whaler's Cove, near Denmark.

Jeff (left) and Cam at Whaler's Cove.

Jeff (left) and friend Matt at Whaler's Cove, making a sand castle?

Jeffr (right) and Cliff at Lights Beach in 2022.

Jeff celebrating in 2024 when a section of Lights Beach was declared legally clothing-optional after Jeff petitioned the local authorities.

Jeff (right) and 'Marco Polio' (not his real name) further west on West Cape Howe, the southernmost point in Western Australia.  Jeff says that from here it's a mere 3400 km (2100 mile) swim to Antarctica.

A bit farther away but still in Western Australia, here's Jeff on Swanbourne Beach in Perth.

A group of friends on Swanbourne Beach.  Swanbourne has an official clothing-optional section.

Jeff in a rubber raft at Swanbourne Beach.

We end with Jeff on Swanbourne Beach at sunset.  Beautiful.  And the sunset is nice, too.

Gods, Myths, and Heroes - Part 68

Tangaroa

In Polynesia before the introduction of Christianity, people worshipped multiple gods.  Tangaroa was the principal god of the sea, and on some islands, he was also the god of creation.

The 17th-18th century wooden statue above, from the island of Rurutu, shows Tangaroa creating other gods and humans, represented as tiny figures on his skin.

In the Cook Islands, Tangaroa was one of the principal gods.  This late 18th-early 19th century statue is now in the British Museum.  Tangaroa was always represented naked, and his procreative powers were symbolized by a large penis.  In the 19th century, due to the influence of Christian missionaries, many of these statues were burned or had their penis cut off.

Today, however, at least on the island of Rarotonga in the Cook islands, naked statues of Tangaroa with a large penis have become fashionable, and they are found in many shops and hotels, such as the one above ...

and this swimming pool or spa ...

and this restaurant ...

and this shop ...

and this hotel or restaurant.

We end far away, but still in Polynesia, in New Zealand, where in the Maori religion, Tangaroa was the god of the sea.  Above is a sculpture created by Frank Szirmay in the 1970s, located in the middle of Tauranga Harbor.  Here Tangaroa does not have a huge penis, but he is more human-looking. 

World Naked Bike Ride - Part 77

Milwaukee, Wisconsin 2021

On Sept. 11, 2021, WNBR riders gathered next to the Boone and Crockett restaurant in Milwaukee.

Here are some riders before the ride started.

Posing for a naked photograph.

Looks like this guy is already getting excited about the upcoming ride, or maybe something else that's up and coming.

Ready to start the ride, complete with signs "Bikes are Traffic" and "Climate Change is Real."

And they're off.

Their route took them along the edge of Lake Michigan toward the city center.

Then into the city.

This rider is looking good.

And this one has a message: Bikes need to be seen.  How to make sure they get seen?  Cycling naked is one way to draw attention, but the point is that for safety, drivers should always be aware of cyclists, even when the cyclists aren't naked.

The route circled back and the ride ended where it started at Boone and Crockett.

Estonian Photos - Part 33

Estonian Photos

We continue our series of photos from the Tartu Ülikooli museum of anthropology in Estonia.

For those who haven't seen my previous posts in this series, a few words of explanation.  The museum provides no information about the men, other than the photos came from the Institute of Anatomy at the University of Tartu.  In particular, it does not say who these men are, or when or why the photos were taken.  However, the photos are labeled "Füüsilise antropoloogia pildistus" (physical anthropology photography).

Who are these men?  My best guess is that they are military recruits.  The very short haircuts suggest that these photos were taken during or shortly after the enlistment process.

Many of the men in this series have dark faces and hands.  Are they are tanned from working outside like farmers, or are they dirty from some dirty occupation?  We don't know.

Note: the dark faces and hands are not as visible in today's post as in previous posts, but still faintly visible in some of the side views.  Perhaps the photos in today's post were taken in the winter, when farmers would not be spending as much time outside getting tanned.

When were the photos taken?  My best guess is between World War I and World War II, when Estonia was an independent country with its own military.  Before WWI, Estonia was part of the Russian Empire, and after WWII, Estonia was part of the Soviet Union until 1991.

A clue to the time frame is that these photographs were made on glass plates, not film.  Dry glass-plate photography started in 1871 and began to fall out of use in the 1920s.  I found some references to it in Estonia through the 1930s.

One other clue to the time frame of these photos is that in a previous batch, one of the men is wearing a wristwatch.   Wristwatches were considered to be for ladies before World War I.  (Men used pocket watches.)  However, during the war, wristwatches proved very useful for soldiers and pilots.  After WWI, wristwatches came into fashion for men.

Although wristwatches were evidently rare in Estonia (only two men wore a wristwatch among the hundreds that were photographed), it suggests that these photos are post-World War I.

Since the use of glass plates fell out of use in the 1920s, I think the photos were most likely taken shortly after World War I.

Although these appear to be military recruits, these are probably not military photos.  We know that the museum that currently has the photos got them from the Institute of Anatomy at the University of Tartu.  If these are military photos, why would they end up at the Institute of Anatomy?

I believe the photos were taken by academics doing a study of physical anthropology.  Scientists at the Institute of Anatomy were trying to measure what they considered racial characteristics of the population by measuring the body, including phrenology (measuring the skull), ideas which are now discredited.

I think that the scientists at the Institute of Anatomy may have persuaded the military to let them take photographs of the naked new recruits for "research" purposes.  I have no written evidence to support this idea, but since the photos were at the Institute of Anatomy, and the photo subjects appear to be military recruits, it's now my best guess as to what happened.

One other question that perennially arises from these photos is: why were the men photographed in pairs?  Was it to save film?  (Note: this photo of one man is an exception.  What happened to #362?  Perhaps some scheduling mix-up, but he got photographed together with #363, shown in my last post on the Estonian photos.)

The answer is that these photos were made on glass plates, not film, but glass plates were more expensive and involved more labor than film, so yes, it's likely that the men were photographed in pairs to save on glass plates.

So, bottom line: My best guess is that these photos were taken after World War I, the subjects are new or recent Army recruits, and the Estonian military allowed scientists from the Institute of Anatomy to take photos of the naked recruits for a study of physical anthropology.